


Body of Thought

by scribblenubbin



Series: Body of Romance - Megan and Kate [1]
Category: Body of Proof
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-22
Updated: 2012-09-22
Packaged: 2017-11-14 19:50:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/518915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblenubbin/pseuds/scribblenubbin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate has a lot to think about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Body of Thought

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted as 'halfbloodme' on LiveJournal

_“Megan is a first class neurosurgeon, she works meticulously and never gives up. She’s tenacious in her working attitude and over the years has saved many patients others had written off. You couldn’t find anyone better to have on your team from that point of view. But I’m warning you Kate, Megan isn’t the easiest with social skills, she tends to stick her elbows out and ignore and irritate people. She isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.”_    
  
Dr. Kate Murphy could still remember the day she rang Megan Hunt’s former employer to ask for clarification on a few points of the reference he had sent her. It was just over a year later and he had been right about every single thing, but Kate didn’t regret employing the former neurosurgeon. Megan may not be able to do delicate brain surgery any longer, following her car accident, but she was a first class Medical Examiner and Kate couldn’t be luckier than to have her on the team… even if she did rub people up the wrong way.  
  
Kate’s first impressions of Megan at the interview had been of someone she could work with professionally, but who wouldn’t be first on her list of people she wanted to be friends with and that suited Kate right down to the ground. She liked to keep her social life and her work life separate; it made things less messy in the long run. She’d witnessed what happened to those who go too involved with those they worked with. It didn’t matter if it was friendship or a fully blown romantic relationship, involvement at work could lead to resentment and hatred so quickly that it just wasn’t worth it. Although with that being said, as an employer Kate also knew that you couldn’t treat your employees without compassion.  
  
Megan had pushed a lot of people’s buttons when she first started and Kate had constantly been receiving complaints. But not one of them reached Megan’s ears. Kate had defended her each and every time, trying to insure that the transition from neurosurgeon to medical examiner would go as smoothly as it could, at least in a work place capacity. But when Curtis had come to Kate about how Megan’s way of working was affecting their budget; she had to make a show at the very least, had to point out that the amount of procedures Kate was ordering was going to impact the department financially. So she did. In that meeting, Kate proved that the A&A panel she had recommended to Ethan was in fact the right thing to do and that a victim, who appeared to have heat stroke, was consequently diagnosed as dying from Lupus. If the test hadn’t been run then it would have been death by natural causes yes, but the death certificate would have been filled out incorrectly. To Curtis that may not have mattered, but for Kate it was impressive to see the way that Megan demanded accuracy in her work, and when others turned to her for advice she was happy to help attain that same level of accuracy. She had smiled inwardly as she told Curtis that she would handle Megan in her own way. Kate wasn’t about to be bossed around by her deputy, and she certainly wasn’t going to let him push their best Medical Examiner out of the job she was good at.  
  
As Curtis had left the room, Kate had sat in her chair, folded her hands on the desk in front of her, leaned her head on those long slender fingers and closed her startling blue eyes, long blonde locks falling around her face. A smile formed on her lips as she replayed Curtis’s reaction to the meeting. A smile that only widened as her memory flashed to Megan and what she was wearing, Megan and the way her expression changed during the course of the meeting, Megan and the way her hair sat gently on her shoulders and tumbled down her back. That leather jacket suited Megan down to the ground and it certainly framed her perfectly. The blonde woman subconsciously ran her tongue over her bottom lip. Kate wasn’t sure when it had begun to happen but over the course of the past year, Megan Hunt had started to wheedle her way into her subconscious and Kate‘s compassion had grown into something more, without her head putting up it‘s usual fight. Kate wouldn’t act on it, but she could enjoy it from a distance. She might have broken her number one rule about work colleagues emotionally, but so long as she didn’t act on it, where was the harm?  
  
Kate had become used to watching Megan when Megan wasn’t looking. She had learnt to make it look like she was giving space to the other woman, time to reply, a moment to get her thoughts together, or time to finish her current train of thought. There was nothing unprofessional about allowing another person the time to breathe, after all. Before Kate had talked to Megan about the pressures of the job and how friendship helped with them, she had stood there for a moment, watching, knowing that Megan couldn't see her with her back turned to her. She hadn't dared to hold that moment too long, a second was all it took knowing that she wouldn’t be able to justifiably explain herself to anyone that might question her about it. But that second had made Kate want to reach out and hold her, to reassure her that everything would be alright and that she would always be there for her. Instead she had slipped on her employer hat and approached the subject from an apparent viewpoint of compassion and not wanting to lose a talented team member.  
  
“I got a lot of phone calls about you before I hired you,” Kate said softly but firmly, an opener that was designed to catch Megan's attention. “she's brilliant and driven, she throws elbows but gets results... I didn't think it was possible they were underselling you, but, they were.”  
  
Megan rolled her eyes and looked away from her boss, not believing for a second that Kate was telling things how she saw them.  
  
“In one year you've managed to make even City Hall notice us.” Kate added in an effort to back up her claim.  
  
“You're welcome.” It was said more as a question laced with confusion, Megan's eyes making that obvious.  
  
“But the knives will come out the minute you screw up. Then even I won't be able to help you.”  
  
There was a moment that passed between the two women as the realisation of that statement hit Megan. Her job was on a tenterhook. She could sink or swim depending on what happened in regards to her meddling. What Kate was sure her subordinate hadn't realised was the other part to what she was saying.  _I want to help you, Megan. I want to look out for you. I want to be here for you._  
  
“You know, I may never have a resumé like yours, but there is something I know that you don't. You let this job get too personal and you're going to burn yourself out.” Kate's arms were folded across her middle. There was a look of softness in her eyes.  
  
“You let me worry about that, okay?” Megan asked. She unfolded her own arms and leant on the examining table.  
  
It was a moment before Kate spoke, she took in Megan's stance, the way she was trying to conceal more of herself and yet show a more open stance at the same time. It was a classic way of trying to put the other person at ease and make them back off, but the blonde wasn't fooled easily.  
  
“Do you have any friends?” Kate had asked, so much more present under the surface than she could easily let out.  
  
“Why?” There was exasperation in Megan's expression that almost made her seem like a petulant child.  
  
“Get some. You can't fight everybody, everywhere, all the time, alone.” Kate answered softly. The look in her eyes was genuine concern, laced around the edges. She left that as the last word between them and headed off.  
  
Once back in the safety of her own office, Kate shut the door and leaned against it with a heavy sigh.  _Don't let this get further than a crush. Don't get too involved._


End file.
